Facebook HTC First - Features and Specifications

Facebook First is not a phone but something deeper than that. And what exactly is Facebook Home?

The Facebook event finally confirmed what the entire Tech world was waiting for with a bated breath: the Facebook phone, HTC First. The well-spread secret called HTC First, was finally unveiled at a Facebook event at their headquarters. Designed and created by HTC with a deep Facebook integration, First caters specially to social-network loving people.

We refuse to call the phone a 'Facebook' phone, as it is just a deeper embedding of the Facebook UI. Imagine an HTC Phone with a Facebook UI instead of the Sense UI and you will get a vague idea of what we’re talking about. But why such a fanfare over a new phone when all Facebook wanted to do was launch a deeper, more integrally embedded app?

__GOOGLEADCODE__Well, according to Zuckerberg, your phone is all about the people in your life; being connected to them. And we do agree. So what Facebook has done instead of getting into the hardware of it and creating an exclusive phone, they decided to tinker with the software instead and add a layer of their own to Android.

Facebook did not launch a Facebook phone but instead the Facebook First is all about Facebook Home, Facebook’s new Android app. The new Android app is essentially a skin over your native android phone and brings Facebook to every aspect of your phone right from the lock-screen to messages.

With the new Home app, the lock-screen is not the standard lock-screen but one where all details from your Facebook account, like the newsfeed, messages and notifications are displayed. You can just double tap the notifications to expand the view or swipe the message away and access it at another time.

Another key feature are ‘Chat Heads’. Facebook has brought about an integration of SMS and Facebook messaging. While there’s still some confusion as to how it’ll work, looks like one of our predictions regarding the features of the Facebook First phone came true. When you send a message, if the person is in your friend list, the message will automatically go to their Facebook inbox is what we’re guessing. Otherwise, the message will be sent via the traditional SMS. Chat Heads also work in way to keep you connected to your friends irrespective of the app you’re using. For Eg: You’re creating a document when your friend sends you a message. You’ll receive the notification over the current app you’re using and you can either respond or swipe it away.

This feature brings all messages and chats together, just one click away. However, once you are done responding, the message automatically disappears. The feature, though slightly different, is quite similar to BlackBerry 10 notification system.

What are the other features and specifications of the HTC First and Facebook Phone? Check out on the next page...